“About ten miles north of here. We rent a house from widow Wallmer.”
“I know where that is. Why don’t I give you a ride home? On the way, you can show me where it happened and I’ll poke around a bit.”
Caleb and Aryl had been on the fringe, talking quietly and intently between themselves, glancing frequently at David. Finally Aryl pushed Caleb closer.
“Actually, I can give him a ride home,” Caleb said. He only looked William in the eyes for fleeting a second and stayed on the other side of Arianna.
“What a good idea!” she said. “We’ll stop by our house beforehand. You can get cleaned up and we’ll feed you a nice dinner to thank you for bringing Jean home.”
David became nervous and took a step back, bumping into the side of Howard’s car. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to trouble you.”
“It’s no trouble! You saved the day with Jean. You should be rewarded somehow, especially after all you’ve been through. It’s the least we can do.”
David’s eyes flitted to the people who remained, craning their necks and stretching their ears with curiosity.
“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” he said. “But thank you.”
Arianna huffed and put a hand on her hip.
“It’s nice of you, but I don’t want to bring you any trouble. And for me to go into your home might be considered scandalous.” He nodded discreetly to the lookie-loos and their judgmental faces. At the very least, it would be considered improper.
Arianna kept a straight face. Suddenly she let out a sharp laugh. “Scandalous?” She cocked an eyebrow. “Clearly you don’t know who I am. Get in. You’re going home with us. Jean, I’ll visit you soon,” she said.
Jonathan thanked David again and shook his hand before David squatted down in front of Jean.
“Are you mad at me for lying to you?” he asked.
“No,” Jean said.
“You know why I did it?”
“Yes.” Jean looked up at Jonathan with a ghost of a smile.
“No more running away, promise me.”
Jean put out his hand. “I promise.”
***
“I’m afraid my mother is old and…old fashioned. She grew up in a different era, you see.”
David smiled politely and was tempted to inform Caleb that the era really hadn’t changed all that much, but he appreciated his concern.
“I just want to apologize in advance if she acts strange or says anything off color.” Caleb’s face immediately pinched up. “I meant…rude or insulting.”
David put a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “I know what you meant. It’ll be fine.”
They walked in and Ethel spun around. Her shoulders dropped. “It’s about time! I’ve been holding dinner and the child starving for hours. What kept you?”
Caleb stepped forward. “We found Jean. By we, I mean him.” He pointed. “Mom, this is David. He helped Jean get home.”
Ethel walked over with a pleasant smile. “Well, then, I can forgive you for being late this one time,” she said and went up on her toes to peck David on the cheek. “Wash up, Hubert, dinner is ready. Caleb’s waited long enough.”
They all paused, Caleb and Arianna glancing to each other.
“Mom?”
She fluttered around the kitchen, fussing over a dinner that didn’t exist.
“Mom are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Sit down and you can tell your father about the calf that was born today.”
The kitchen fell silent except for the scraping and bumping of Ethel in the kitchen.
Arianna went to her. “Mother Ethel, can I help you with anything?” she asked.
“Yes, thank you so much. Can you put the roast on the table?” She handed her a casserole dish with a mason jar of green beans in it, laying on its side.
With her mouth agape, Arianna’s eyes darted to Caleb. He looked frightened as he watched Ethel stir an empty pot. David dipped his head, catching Arianna’s attention. He pointed and nodded for her to put the casserole of canned beans on the table.
Ethel spun around again, this time looking frustrated. “Hubert! I told you to go wash up!”
“I did,” David said, stepping forward. “All clean, ready to eat.” He leaned his head to Caleb. “Where did your father sit?” he asked from the corner of his mouth.
“At the head, over there,” Caleb whispered back. “What are you doing?”
“Playing along. I’ll explain later.”
He sat down and shortly, Arianna and Caleb followed.
“Caleb do you need your box to sit on?” Ethel asked.
“No, I’m fine,” he said, looking to David for guidance. David nodded slowly, approving. He rolled his hand out in front of him.
“Just go with her,” he whispered.
“Growin’ so fast. It was just last night you needed that box your dad made to boost you up.”
She began humming and walking around the table, tearing up a piece of bread, tossing the bits onto everyone’s plate.
Then she placed a few raw turnips on a plate, put it on the table and sat down.
“Well, what’s everyone waiting for?”
David was the first to move, pretending to cut the roast and serve. Caleb and Arianna played along, pretending to eat. Their eyes twitched nervously to one another.
“Mother Ethel?” Arianna asked, setting her fork down. “Are the babies asleep?”
“Oh, I would assume so. The neighbors never picked them up, so I put them to bed in the barn.”
Arianna threw her chair back. “In the barn?” she yelled and ran past Ethel out the back door with Caleb and David close behind.
She threw the latch and pulled open the heavy barn door, immediately hearing Felicity’s fierce wailing. She ran from stall to stall, frantically searching. She finally found her in the last one, partially covered with hay, red faced from crying, her hands blue from the cold.
“Caleb! I found Felicity! Find the others!”
He ran to the back of the barn and found Samuel and Savrene huddled together in a dark corner. Their faces were tear stained, though they were too cold to cry. Samuel held his hands up for Caleb and Savrene scrambled up his leg.
He walked out of the barn with one on each hip. Arianna paced, trying to soothe Felicity.
“I don’t care if she’s your mother, I’m going to slap that woman senseless!” she seethed. “What was she thinking? Has she lost her mind?”
“It appears so,” David said, reaching out to touch the baby’s flush cheek. “Has she done this before?”
“She has started to forget things, who we are for a moment, where she was…but it’s just old age. She always remembers after a moment. She’s better after we remind her.”
“And each time lasted a little longer than the last?”
“Well…yes, but never this long,” Caleb said. “And she’s never seen things that we didn’t and she’s never tried to hurt the babies.”
“I’ve seen this before in older folks,” David said sadly. “Unfortunately, it’s not going to get any better.”
“What exactly does that mean?” Caleb asked as Samuel and Savrene clung to him, staring at David with wide eyes.
“It’s more than forgetting things in the present. She’s also slipping into the past. It’ll happen more frequently and each episode will last longer. Until one day she slips and doesn’t come back.”
Caleb’s look of shock quickly turned into one of disbelief. “You’re not a doctor. You’re…”
“No, but I work closely with one. I’ve learned a lot and dealt with this many times.”
“It’s true,” Arianna said stepping up to join them. “He knows about these things. He works at the asylum, remember?”
“Well, that’s not where my mother’s going, if that’s what you’re thinking!” Savrene whimpered as Caleb raised his voice.
David lowered his. “That wasn’t what I was going to suggest. You can still care for her at home. But I wou
ldn’t leave your children with her anymore. Let’s get them inside. It’s cold.”
They walked in to find Ethel standing by the table, staring curiously at the bread bits scattered about.
“What happened?” she whispered. She looked up at them standing in the doorway and gasped. She threw up a shaky finger. “Negro!” she yelled. “Caleb there’s a negro in the house!” She backed out of the room, frightened.
“I think it’s safe to say she’s back in the present,” Caleb said under his breath. He shifted the twins in his arms, hoisting them up higher. “I’ll go talk to her.”
David nodded and with his eyes and hands, offered to take the twins.
“Are you sure? They’re usually afraid of strangers. It’s nothing personal,” he assured.
“Can’t hurt to try,” David said. Arianna looked on as Caleb leaned experimentally. Both twins held out chubby hands, grabbing onto David’s coat.
“Hey, there,” he said with a smile as they began patting and poking his face.
***
Jean tearfully explained everything on the ride home. The talk in the office, the rumors and the kids that teased him, the fact that he felt like a burden and the immense desire to not ever go back to school.
When they got home, Ava hugged him tightly, relieved beyond words. He had grown too big to pick up, but she brought him up on tiptoes and held him tight.
“Jean, I’m so glad you’re safe.” She felt his hands. “You’re frozen through and through! I’ll run a hot bath for you. Then I’ll make you a late lunch, alright?”
He nodded, chin quivering. He never imagined a reception like this after what he’d done.
Jonathan watched Ava go up the stairs and then bent to pick Amy up off the floor.
“Your sister would have missed you terribly,” Jonathan said, wiping drool from her chin.
That brought more guilt than reassurance and Jean lost his battle against tears. He hastily wiped them away with the back of his hand.
“I’m not mad at you, Jean. Not for the fight at school, not even for running away. I just wish you had come and talked to me. I would have told you what you wanted to know and all this would have been unnecessary.”
“If I ask you the questions now, will you still tell me?”
“Yes.”
“The bath is ready, Jean!” Ava called down the stairs.
“After lunch we’ll sit and talk, okay?” Jonathan asked. Jean nodded as another shiver ripped through him. “Go get in that hot bath and warm up.”
A few moments later, Ava returned to the living room and reached for Amy.
“Tell me everything,” she said, sitting down on the sofa.
“He didn’t leave for fear of punishment like we thought.”
“Then why did he run away?” Ava asked.
“Because rumors are going around town and the school that his mother was a whore, that he may not even be mine and that we were forced to take him.”
Ava’s mouth dropped open. “That’s what the kids were teasing him about?”
Jonathan nodded. “And now he wants to know the truth.” He sighed, sat down and dropped his head in his hands. “I don’t know what to tell him.”
Ava thought for a moment and then moved closer, putting her hand on his arm. “If he wants the truth, tell him the truth. Tell him what a good person she was. Tell him all the reasons you cared about her. All the things that made you want to help her. Tell him that while finding out about him was a surprise, you couldn’t…we couldn’t imagine our life without him.”
Jonathan took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. “And what if he asks if she really was a prostitute?”
“You tell him that she would have been forced into that life, only you supported her so she didn’t have to.”
“Ava,” Jonathan whispered. “You and I both know that after me, she did…have to resort to that life.”
“We weren’t there. We have no proof of that.”
He agreed, but still seemed distracted.
“It might not hurt to put this off until you’ve had some sleep,” she said, touching his face. His eyes were bloodshot, his hands shaking from exhaustion.
“No, it’s better not to wait.” He gave her a weak smile. “I wish you could be here with me when I talk to him. Provide gentle pointers when I get stuck.”
“Why can’t I be here?” she asked. Tired as she was, her eyes were clear and shining, her little family restored.
“Because, I’ll be talking about Elyse,” he said. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”
“You’ll be talking about Jean’s mother. I know that how I initially reacted to him…and her…was irrational and immature. I’ve grown a lot since then. Give me some credit,” she said, poking him. “I’ll be fine. I want him to see that I love him, too.”
***
The next evening, they pulled up to the dock and could see William waiting at the end of it, leaning against his car. He threw up a hand and started walking toward the boat as Aryl threw a rope.
“Uh-oh,” Caleb said.
Jonathan joined him, squinting.
“What’s he doing here?” he asked.
Aryl slapped a hand on Jonathan’s back. “Looks like it’s your turn.”
Jonathan flashed a very unamused look and jumped down to the dock.
“How can I help you?” he called as William drew close.
“I came by because I wanted to talk to you and while we were searching for your boy wasn’t the proper time to bring this up. I’m glad I caught you all together.”
“You’re lucky. Caleb’s only filling in today because Peter and Ian are sick.”
“Is it that stomach trouble that’s going around?” William asked. “I heard that’s a nasty one.”
“From Maura’s description, it sounds like it might be.”
“How’s David doing?”
“Fine. He was feeling dizzy off and on last night,” Caleb said.
“After the lump he took, it doesn’t surprise me. I saw a man go blind in one eye after taking a hit like that.”
“If that’s all, sheriff, we’d like to get off loaded and go home.”
“If I could just have a minute with all three of you first?”
Jonathan turned and gestured for the others to join him. They looked hesitant to do so and moved slowly into place next to Jonathan.
When William had his audience, he clasped his hands in front of him. “Aryl, your lovely wife paid me a visit few days ago. There appears to be a question as to where my interests may lay and concerns about where my eyes may have wandered. I understand my actions recently may have made you feel uncomfortable,” he said, nodding to Caleb.
“Yes, actually, they did,” Caleb said, puffing up. “Look here, if you’re…”
“Bent?”
“Yes, bent, that’s your business. But know that we aren’t.”
“A nancy I am not. Rest assured.”
“Then why did you act that way toward us?” Aryl asked.
The sheriff looked down and grinned. His hand gestured up. “Because I heard you were.”
Aryl’s mouth fell open and Caleb’s eyes popped wide. “You heard we were bent!”
“No, not all of you. Just Caleb and Aryl.”
Jonathan let out a fast cackling laugh.
“Where did you hear this? Who’s saying it?” Caleb asked, glancing around as if the offending gossiper was right onshore.
The sheriff struggled to suppress a laugh. “I heard it around. You know how people talk in a small town.”
“We’re married,” Aryl said with emphasis. “To women.”
“You know as well as I do that doesn’t mean anything. Most of ‘em are. With kids, too. They have to in order to keep up appearances.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you’d act like that,” Jonathan said, returning to seriousness. There was plenty of time to tease his friends later. His mouth twitched at the thought.
Willia
m took a deep breath. “Growing up I had a friend. He was as bent as the letter O. Had a hell of a time hiding it, too. Lord knows he tried. I watched people be so mean, say things, do things to him that there was no cause for. I even watched our preacher try to exorcise the demons out of him.” He stopped and shook his head slowly. “His was a miserable life because of it. All that time, I was helpless to do anything. I couldn’t even take up for him because of what it would have brought down on me. Looking back, I should have tried, but I was too scared people would think I was bent, too.
“He ran away more times than I can count and tried to kill himself three times before he turned twenty-one. The fourth time, he succeeded.”
William put his hands on his hips and cast his eyes to the ground.
“I lost my friend, my very dear friend because of meanness. It never mattered to me what he was. And he never treated me like anything but a friend…his only friend. So,” William continued, looking up at the three. “When I decided to go into law enforcement, I realized I had put myself in a unique position. One of authority, respect and influence. I vowed on his memory to do more for other bent folk than I ever did for him. To not be scared, to stand up publicly, defend them and tell people to go mind their own damned business. When I heard it about you boys, I went out of my way to make you feel accepted. I wanted you to know that I knew, and I wasn’t going to give you any guff about it.”
William looked up and grinned. “While I was so busy trying to convey the message that it made no matter to me if you were, I completely missed the signs that you weren’t.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Aryl said. “If you already thought I was bent, why did you invite me to your team?” he asked with a heavy wink.
“Oh, that? That had nothing to do with any of this. I was asking you to consider law enforcement. I could use another deputy.”
Aryl’s face fell.
“I’m not…I have no idea how to be a deputy. Isn’t there a…test or something?”
“No, no test. You have the most important trait. I’ll bet you a new Ford that you can spot a liar or a thief at a hundred yards.”
“Why would you say that? I couldn’t even tell that you weren’t bent.”
Purling Road - The Complete First Season: Episodes 1-10 Page 8